Semua Bab BLOOD, LIES, AND THE ROMANOV HEIR: Bab 1 - Bab 10

ISABELLARain hammers aggressively against the windshield of my car. The rhythmic slapping of the wipers does absolutely nothing to wash away the crushing weight in my chest. I drive blindly through the decaying industrial district, and every passing shadow seems to mock my shattered life. My husband is a monster and my best friend is a traitor.The betrayal tastes like bitter ash in my mouth. I spent years believing my body was failing me, I mourned empty nurseries while crying until my voice gave out. All the while, Marcus had been feeding me substituted pills to ensure I never carry our child to term. Sarah had known everything from the very beginning. And she smiled in my face while secretly stabbing me in the back.I navigate the treacherous, flooded roads until Viktor's compound finally appears in the gloom. It’s like a sprawling graveyard of forgotten machines. Mountains of crushed cars rusts away under the stormy sky and coils of razor wire gleams maliciously in the faint

ISABELLASleep is an impossible luxury. I sit completely alone in my idling car outside The Inferno for a very long time. The pulsating bass from the exclusive nightclub no longer reaching me. I am entirely consumed by the heavy sapphire ring box resting on the passenger seat. The velvet material seems to absorb the dim streetlights. It feels exactly like a ticking bomb waiting to detonate my entire existence.I finally shift the vehicle into gear. My hands grip the leather steering wheel with bruising force. I drive back toward the coastal estate under the oppressive cover of darkness. The winding roads are terrifyingly empty and every passing shadow looks like an approaching threat.I pull into the overgrown circular driveway of my father's manor, staring intently at the heavy oak front doors. The glowing red laser dot from yesterday is completely gone. The porch is bathed in pale moonlight. However, the terrible sensation of being watched crawls sickeningly under my skin. I fee

ISABELLA I’ve survived exactly seventy-two hours inside the impenetrable Moretti fortress. My new existence has now quickly settle into a deeply uneasy routine. Meals with Luca feel exactly like brutal police interrogations and walks through the sprawling compound feels like pacing the perimeter of a beautiful cage. My nights are spent lying entirely awake listening to the heavily armed guards patrol the exterior walls. My days blur together into a suffocating haze of constant paranoia.Luca never lowers his terrifying guard. He watches my every single movement with calculating eyes. He’s studying me like a complex puzzle he needs to solve. I spend hours staring out the bulletproof glass of my bedroom window. I watch the violent ocean crash against the dark rocks below. I constantly wonder what Marcus was doing back in the city. I wondered if the local police were actively searching for my car.It’s exactly two o'clock in the morning when the power suddenly fails.The heavy darkn

ISABELLA"What exactly is this ledger?" I ask Luca who is constantly pacing around the cabin.Luca stops pacing. He pockets the phone and turns to face me. "It’s your father's life's work," Luca says smoothly, his deep voice filling the small space. "Alexei Romanov didn’t just run a Syndicate, Isabella. He was a paranoid architect. For twenty years, he painstakingly built a comprehensive intelligence file on the Volkov Bratva. He documented everything. Every hidden offshore account they use to launder money, every corrupted politician and judge they own, every undercover asset, and every illicit trade route running through the ports."I stare at the flames, trying to process the magnitude of his words. The man who taught me how to ride a bicycle and helped me with my algebra homework had been simultaneously cataloging the deepest, darkest secrets of the Russian mafia."And the Volkovs want it destroyed," I say, the pieces clicking together with dread."The Russians want it burned to

ISABELLALuca is already awake and fully dressed, as he speaks in low, rapid Italian into the secure burner phone. He hangs up and turns around and his eyes are completely stripped of the raw hunger I saw last night. "Enzo just relayed the latest intelligence," Luca says, his voice flat. "Your husband has been extremely busy.” “Ex husband,” I counter“Right. Marcus is in direct contact with Sergei Volkov. They’ve finalized an arrangement. Marcus intends to hand you, and the Romanov ring, over to the Russians in exchange for ten million dollars and safe passage out of the country."A small laugh escapes me. The betrayal doesn’t even sting anymore. "He sold me.""He thinks he did," Luca corrects smoothly. "But my network found something much more concerning than your ex husband's greed. We pulled the architectural blueprints for the fertility clinic where you were treated. Six months a